Challenges for a Widely Used Herbicide

Haylie Shipp

More than 50 U.S. lawmakers are urging the Environmental Protection Agency to ban the use of a weedkiller linked to Parkinson’s disease and other health risks to humans. In a letter to the agency, seven U.S. senators said that the use of paraquat, a chemical commonly used on farms across the country, cannot be justified given its harms to farmworkers and rural communities. The call for a nationwide ban came after 47 U.S. Representatives sent a similar letter to the EPA earlier in October. According to findings from a recent study, paraquat could more than double a person’s odds of developing Parkinson’s if not sprayed more than 500 meters from where people live and work.

EPA does classify paraquat as “restricted use.” This means that it can be used only by people who are licensed applicators.